October 6, 2012  ¤  Listed in : Jose Ocampo - Poetry

I’ve seen the stars, moon and sun yet none compare to this darkness in my life.

The seasons came, the seasons went, pages out my calendar falling as leafs on an autumn tree.

I stop to wonder, God when will it end?

As I imagine myself sitting on a beach staring at an endless sea.

That seems to never end, just as my years in here have been.

I look myself in the mirror and see images of my life.

I’m no longer the young man I once used to be.

My loving mother and father shrinking on

February 1, 2012  ¤  Listed in : Robert Brown - Poetry

Something fantastic is,

what I’m triggering.
Reality is better than,

fantasizing and wishing.
Life is tocking non-stop,

and ticking.
Spice it up and get with,

a person who giving –
All they can and got,

just trying to be heard.
All they say and feel cuz,

February 1, 2012  ¤  Listed in : Robert Brown - Poetry

I float close by,

so far away.
I hope to take a piece,

of your heart someday.
To remain in your memories,

stored and locked away.
You can forever claim a friend in me,

just walk my way.
Its dark, but try to,

see me with blind trust.
Its not my intention,

December 29, 2011  ¤  Listed in : Ruben Cardenas - Poetry

 

 

 

November 14, 2011  ¤  Listed in : Hewritt Dixon - Poetry

I’m like Cuervo Black…smooth and dark.
I’m like the muddy waters of the mighty Mississippi.
You can’t see whats beneath it, but a world of activity is going on deep down below.
Yeah, I’m black like that!

I’m like a black hole…that “void” they say exists in space.
Others have tried to rob me of my identity.
I wonder if they even see me at all.
Yeah, I’m black like that!

The wealth of this country is due to the sweat of my brow,
and the strength of my back.

October 15, 2011  ¤  Listed in : Leroy Reed - Poetry

“You don’t need to help me. I can do it. You have more important things to do,” said an 80 year old neighbor when I tried to help pick up sticks in her yard. I heard the same message from a friend with emphysema as he tried to align rocks in a ditch running along the side of his yard. Offers to help are often met with resistance.

We see the same behavior in biblical characters. For example, at first Naomi resisted the offers of her two daughters-in-law to stay with her. “Why should these young women be burdened with caring for me?” She probably reasoned. They have their whole lives ahead of them. With regret, Orpah departed. However, when Ruth showed that she was determined to stay, Naomi relented.

As I get older, I recognize that I can not do as much as I did in youth, but

October 15, 2011  ¤  Listed in : Leroy Reed - Poetry

Is it really possible to predict the path one’s life will take? Or maybe we never actually had to live in margins. Still, most of us had some vision for the future regardless of the circumstances some married, others pursued careers, successful ones. Although we may have had our doubts, but certainly hope in our hearts. No one dreams of or aspires to bad choices. Those of us living behind fences and walls perhaps never imagined that imprisonment would become our unique reality. Yet at the end of the day, it is.

Could I have known that prison would become the destination of a journey set in motion. Yet, still this detour may have started the day when, as a child, fear grabbed hold of my heart and would not